The Blacksmiths of Auburn, Maine

Eva Murray. Sunday, Mar-01-09

(this article appeared in the Lewiston Sun Journal, March 1, 2009)

If you happen to find yourself in the industrial outskirts of Auburn,
not far from the railroad tracks, near the scrap metal companies,
recyclers, and snowmobile dealerships, you may hear a sound that was
commonplace years ago...the ring of the hammer on the anvil.

The New England School of Metalwork, located at 7 Albiston Way is, to
quote their brochure, "a non-profit educational facility devoted to the
training of welders and artistic blacksmiths." The school offers a
series of classes in MIG, TIG, old-fashioned "stick," and oxy-acetylene
welding. It also offers sessions in blacksmithing...the ancient and
modern arts of working in iron with (mostly) hand tools. Started in 2000
by Bruce Albiston, the owner of Maine Oxy, and Dan Guerin, the
company's president, who'd been hearing from customers that there was a
need for more training for welders, it seemed logical for a dealer in
welding supplies to offer education in welding skills for both the
professional and those looking to enter the trade. But blacksmithing?
Who does that anymore?

As it turns out, plenty of people.

The NESM blacksmithing/bladesmithing program defies easy categorization.
Sort of a trade school, sort of an art studio, the school is a venue
which brings together respect for traditional craftsmanship, artistic
vision, some just-for-fun hobbies, and the satisfaction of hard work.
The varied courses and workshops offered throughout the year welcome
beginners and experts, backyard scrap-iron sculptors and precision
designers. They attract craftspeople, builders, historic re-enactors,
old-tool enthusiasts, thoroughly modern, technology-aided machinists
looking to expand their experience, engineers and "dumpster-divers,"
jewelers and pipe-fitters, teenagers and retired folks, men and women"¦

Yes, women. It's a fact that quite a few metal artists, and blacksmithing instructors, are women.

Dereck Glaser, who describes himself as the "metalsmithing program
director and resident blacksmith," is a working smith with a
studio/forge in Winthrop, Maine. He's been working in iron since he was a
teenager in the Cincinatti area. When Maine Oxy decided to open the
school, Albiston approached Glaser to help develop the program. Glaser
is also trained as an Industrial Arts teacher, and with safety always
first, he comes across like the former "shop teacher" he is. The work
area is clean and orderly, and Glaser shows new students how to be good
to the equipment, how not to waste fuel, how to bank their fires so they
will still be going when everybody gets back from lunch. He keeps a
close eye on both the tools and the workshop participants; if he is not
teaching, he's helping students to choose the steel they need for their
projects, or to select the right tool; he busies himself sharpening
chisels, tightening belts, and grimacing uncomfortably when it looks
like a student is about to inadvertently abuse the bandsaw blade. Glaser
specializes in architectural ironwork and traditional joinery, as well
as sculptural work.

The NESM is no longer a part of Maine Oxy, but the school still
maintains a close relationship with the company. Glaser and Warren Swan,
who heads up the welding program, see the school as (in their words)
"dedicated to creating the most comfortable and motivating atmosphere,"
to help students "obtain mastery of their craft." The emotional
connection between the craftsperson and his or her tools is recognized
and acknowledged here; unlike mere "vocational" training which is geared
first toward helping the student make a living, here the satisfaction
and pleasure of participating in and perfecting one's craft are deeply
respected, without exclusive attitudes, snobbishness or incomprehensible
"art jargon."

Visiting artists and instructors come from all over the country to share
their particular expertise with the students at NESM. I've attended
workshops with Doug Merkel (who also teaches at the John C. Campbell
Folk School in North Carolina) and with Caleb Kullman, who designs and
creates, among other things, those massive and unique fireplaces for
fancy ski houses in Telluride, Colorado. Some classes have a specific
theme...toolmaking, or botanical forms in metal, or Japanese
bladesmithing; the school also offer beginner's classes, "open forge"
workshops where students can bring their own projects to work on, and
sessions where the group, working together, fabricates enough coal
forges or power hammers for everyone (bring your truck!)

In a typical workshop, the instructor will demonstrate particular
techniques from time to time, and move around assisting students as
needed. Participants are typically a varied group, and though the course
catalog describes some sessions as beginner-friendly and others as
requiring more experience, there is always a range of skill and
background among the students, who often pick up ideas and tips from
each other. Sometimes students have specific projects in mind, sometimes
they don't; some may just want to experiment with a new medium or a new
technique without concern for a finished product.

What's a day spent at the forge going to be like?

You arrive at 8:00 in the morning, and meet the other students sitting
around the tables in the classroom, where Glaser has made a pot of
coffee. (At this point you might find yourself sizing up the other
students...ah, good...they're not all seven-foot tall gorillas.)
Participants make introductions and hear a brief talk from the
instructor. Then, the small group walks a few feet across the parking
area to the workshop building. Inside, a large room dedicated half to
blacksmithing, half to welding holds a generous collection of
metalworking tools...not machine shop equipment intended for precise
fabrication, but rather, hand tools and common power tools, accessible
to most of us. On the blacksmithing side there are coal forges and
propane gas forges, anvils and vises, sledge hammers and pneumatic
power-hammers, files and chisels, coal buckets and water barrels. There
are grinders and torches, a drill press and belt sander, and, perhaps
mystifyingly, big racks of tools, some of which you might actually
recognize (and many you won't.)

If it is your first experience at the coal forge, you'll likely spend a
good deal of time starting and figuring out your fire...perhaps you'll
look at anybody in the group who's done this before and think, "Why
aren't they having as much trouble as I am?" Before lunch, though,
you'll be thinking, "This is just like a childhood dream...get dirty,
play with fire, pound on things, make noise..." Your lunch will taste
wonderful, and if you go to a local store for your sandwich, they may
just be able to figure out where you've been all morning, from the coal
smudges on your knuckles.

There is definitely a sense of pride to be felt in saying, "I made
this." One five-day workshop will not make a master smith out of a
beginner, but your first usable hook or fire poker feels pretty good.
Then, your first good ("stuck") forge weld feels great...before that
becomes routine as well. Working with tools you've made yourself is also
a terrific feeling. I now use "my" hammer, plus a few chisels and
center punches and lots of fire tools; they aren't perfect, but they're
distinctly my own. Blacksmiths often make their own tongs. My first
tongs are ugly and primitive, but usable; undoubtedly the next ones will
look better. There is something very special about making the tools
with which to make the art.

Many people think of the blacksmith as the farrier, the specialist who
shoes animals. When I first mentioned my interest in this craft, several
of my neighbors felt the need to observe, "...but you don't have a
horse!" NESM does not offer training in shoeing horses (although Dereck
might be able to connect you with somebody who can) but does offer
classes in a wide array of other metalwork. You might create elegant
steel flowers, or construct your own hammer; make a set of fireplace
tools or work in copper to craft a weather vane; learn to reproduce
colonial hinges, make a knife or try your hand at casting. As for the
image of the brawny blacksmith, "We're not building railroad engines"
remarks (seriously brawny) instructor Doug Merkel. You do need to be
prepared for some physical exertion, but I can assure you...it feels
good.

Picking up the blacksmith's hammer connects one to a millenia-old
tradition of craftsmanship. Metalsmithing was the "cutting edge
technology" of the day, many, MANY days ago. This art, these skills were
a big deal in ancient times, almost bordering on magic; the civilians
were impressed.

When I first started, I was particularly entranced with the colors in
the hot steel. When I look at the gray or black metal, I know that it's
got those brilliant reds, oranges and yellows hidden inside. Maybe there
is still a bit of magic to it.

Most of the workshops are four or five days long, enabling instructors
and students to come from some distance away and devote themselves
full-time to the work (room and board are your own responsibility.)
Evening classes, which might span a month or more, are also available
for those who live locally.

You may get a few blisters. You'll certainly get dirty. You'll probably
make some friends. Your neighbors will be impressed with whatever you
bring home, not knowing that a simple plant hanger or fire poker is
really not that hard to make. You will learn a new language...the
fuller, the flatter, the swage and the drift, hardie and pritchel, coke
and clinker, annealing and tempering.

By the way, speaking of language"¦ this work is not called "forgery!" That means something entirely different"¦

...and as for that well-known poem by Longfellow, which begins "Under
the spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands..." allow me
correct a common misconception. The "smithy" is the shed, the building
that shelters the forge. Sometimes the whole business is called the
forge. The smithy, however, is never the person. He, or she, is the
"smith."

**

This summer, the NESM will also be hosting the annual conference of the
American Blade Society, three days of demonstrations, small classes, and
more for knife- and sword-smiths. Check the NESM website or request a
brochure for information on 2009 workshops.

++++++++++++++++
Eva Murray first came to Matinicus as the teacher in the island's one-room school. She is a freelance writer, an EMT, runs a small seasonal bakery from her home during the summer, is married to the island's electrician and has raised two children on Matinicus.